


cut those puppet strings from your wooden limbs

by Tobi_Black



Series: If at first you don't succeed, try again [5]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Urahara Behavior, Canon-Typical Yoruichi Behavior, Echoes of a Past Life reasserting themselves, Gen, Ichigo Kurosaki is a Cryptid, Kurosaki Ichigo is Shiba Kaien, Kurosaki Ichigo-centric, Metastacia-Induced Trauma, Quincy!Ichigo, Reincarnation, Shinigami Society, Shinigami/Zanpakutou Bond, Soul Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-06 19:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 14,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20511968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tobi_Black/pseuds/Tobi_Black
Summary: Ichigo found a cat for Yuzu; Rukia visited a shady shopkeeper.What followed showed that they clearly were all mad here in Karakura.(What was normal like again?)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> X3

Ever since Rukia had shown up, it wasn’t often that they were far apart. It just wasn’t practical for him to fulfill her shinigami duties without her there to boot him from his body, which was why he’d accepted her living in his closest with minimal grumbling as it _was_ necessary.

Also, she had the soul pager that told him when there was a hollow loose. Which was annoyingly necessary because his ability to tell when one was around was rather hit-and-miss, as he was slowly getting better, but he also had had a few false positives when it came to Karin the last couple of days since Yûichi.

After about a month, it actually felt a bit strange to not have Rukia walking home with him.

He’d already left Tatsuki and Orihime at the Arisawa home, after Tatsuki had grumbled on and off through the last couple of days about his _Ichigo-ness_ and a long list of remembered offenses about how it had led to Things; somehow without repeating an instance.

(Several of those he hadn’t remembered until she had mentioned them with that same sense of _knowing_ that his knowledge of shinigami and hollow periodically kicked in with. And she’d stumbled over his name for a moment the same way he did hers sometimes, like _Ichigo_ and _Tatsuki_ weren’t the names they’d met under.

It was strangely comforting.)

All Rukia had to say when she’d left was that she was getting the pager checked.

The whole thing with Yûichi wasn’t exactly the _first_ time it hadn’t gone off when it should have, but they’d already had a conversation about how his reiatsu affected her senses and it hadn’t been a far leap to make that maybe it was having the same sort of issue. Now, it hadn’t gone off since, so Rukia had been _concerned_.

Ichigo had been less so because he’d have one scratch across his senses just long enough for it to register before it was gone four times in the last two days. Clearly someone was picking up their slack.

His reference to this when she’d almost made them skip first period to take care of one of those instances, just made Rukia more concerned.

Tatsuki had dragged him off because there was a televised judo event today and he’d been ‘dawdling’, her words not his, and Rukia had disappeared with hardly a backwards glance and the parting comment to not get in trouble.

He’d scoffed even as Tatsuki had laughed.

Now, he’d caught up on his homework and Yuzu wasn’t making dinner for an hour.

Before Rukia, he’d spend the time making his rounds to visit any dead kids, and clean up their shrines. He’d already helped all the ones he’d known of pass on, and as far as he knew, there hadn’t been any new ones.

It left him free time that he didn’t know quite what to do with anymore.


	2. Rukia

She’d told Ichigo she was going to get the pager fixed – which she was – but despite how hard she’d been fighting to get even some of her reiatsu back, to booster it, nothing was working.

Even if her pager had gone off, there was a good chance that she might not have been able to boot Ichigo out of his body. The glove required a bit of reiatsu, which while not at all substantial, in this month while she’d already had so little, it had drained her reserves.

Reserves that just weren’t building back _right_. Even if she disregarded exactly _how much_ Ichigo had taken from her that night, she should still have been able to hear her zanpaku-tō spirit, should have still had enough reiatsu for that even if she couldn’t manifest a blade right now.

Rukia had let Ichigo think that she’d been getting increasingly concerned about the _pager_ – which was concerning, but it was fairly notorious that the Karakura area was hard on it with the naturally high levels for the Human World present here, so had ultimately been expected – but she’d gotten a decent boost of reiatsu from being near that arrow.

Even after the fight, and not having enough reiatsu for kidō by the end, she’d had more reiatsu than she’d had in a while.

That night she’d meditated and could _almost_ hear Sode no Shirayuki. It was like she was at a distance, and speaking so softly.

She had the impression that her zanpaku-tō hadn’t been trying to speak like snowfall, but like cracking glacier ice, and the quiet felt _unnatural_.

The next night was worse. Her reiatsu had dropped despite doing _nothing_.

_That_ was why she was visiting Urahara in truth. She was less than _enthused_ about asking him how that could be, but she had a month before she was supposed to go back, and things _weren’t_ getting better, they were getting _worse_.

She wouldn’t risk _Ichigo_.

She needed to get back so she could tell Ukitake-taichou and Kukaku-sama, so they could protect the Kurosaki family from any sort of backlash her having jump-started Ichigo’s reiatsu could cause.


	3. Chapter 3

What he’d told Chad to convince him to bring the cockatiel into Kurosaki Clinic, Ichigo hadn’t forgotten.

In the wake of Yûichi, Chad had kept the cockatiel. Considering that he hadn’t had it long before the hollows had shown up, Chad hadn’t had the time to get the supplies necessary for the bird.

It had come up during lunch a few days after.

“Keigo Asano and Ewan McGregor are twins! Like Hitoshi Matsumoto and Vincent Gallo! Okay! Say it!”

“As . . Asa . Asa . Asano . . Asano Tadanobu!”

“Oh, so close! Anyway, keep practicing!”

Keigo was very fixated on getting told that he was handsome, and hardly seemed to realize the bird’s intelligence had dropped significantly, but Mizuiro did, “Hey, Chad, the bird’s vocabulary has crashed. What happened?”

“Huh? Beats me . . It was like that when I woke up today.”

“Weird . .” Mizuiro didn’t quite looked convinced, but as a testament to, as Tatsuki put it, his _Ichigo-ness_, it was just curious but nothing _too_ out of the ordinary for their class. Just another Thursday. So Mizuiro dropped it.

When Keigo got distracted with rushing to finish homework for next period, and Mizuiro absorbed in texting one of his lady-friends, Ichigo had turned to Chad, “So, got anything for Kagome?”

Chad had blinked, “Huh?”

“The cockatiel. Yuzu says that the striped yellow tail and greyed face means it’s female. She wanted to know how she was doing now that she’d got her whole soul back instead of being both Kikyo _and_ Kagome.”

It took a second, but Chad got the reference as he’d been there when his sisters had an hours long _debate_ over how Kikyo and Kagome existing at the same time worked and seemed to have absorbed enough about the manga to then run with it, “No, I didn’t really get the chance before Naraku showed up.”

“Yuzu offered to go shopping with you for essentials. If it hadn’t been so hectic yesterday, I’m sure she would have gone for you.”

With Rukia elsewhere, it had been as good of time as any for them all to make that shopping trip once Yuzu got home.

Yuzu had then proceeded to lead Chad around, helping him pick everything he could ever need to take care of a cockatiel, and Ichigo had drifted off to look at cat supplies. He hadn’t bought anything then, but he’d looked.

After Chad had paid for the things, and while Yuzu had been talking with the freshly named Kagome, trying to teach it some basic phrases to say – all movie quotes, in English that they’d picked up from Goat Face’s eccentric taste in film – he’d noticed that Chad’s necklace had gained a friend.

Chad tended to wear an older St. Christopher necklace tucked under his shirt, or a Saint Nicholas around exam season, but there was a different saint on a pendant attached to a short string of rosary beads recently in the last week, openly now that they were out of school. Chad was very go-with-the-flow when it came to religion considering the differences between the Roman Catholicism of Mexico and the mix of Shinto and Buddhism here in Japan, so it wasn’t often that he did anything more than his very low-key expression of religion.

“New necklace, Chad?”

His eye was wider than normal, voice not quite as steady either, “Saint Michael. Ichigo, we saw _Hell_. Behind the god, didn’t you see the landscape?”

Admittedly, his attention hadn’t been focused very much on anything past Enma-ō, Miru-me and Kagu-hana, and the hollows, so no, Ichigo had not seen it.

Chad didn’t need an answer; his eyes looking through him with a horror, “Hell is _paperwork_, never-ending and tedious, filled with all the small complaints that can go wrong going wrong, locked in a cubicle with four white walls, and the smell of a public restroom left too long.”


	4. Rukia

“The pitcher winds up, throws, _whoosh! Wham!_ And it’s a foul ball!!”

Rukia heard the boy before she saw him, “Batting fourth is Jinta Hanakari. A mighty swing, _whack! Yes!_ A home run!!!”

The girl was sweeping as the boy swung his broom like a baseball bat, before pausing.

“Jinta, Tessai’s gonna yell if we don’t clean-” – Jinta swung his broom out to point at Ururu at that – “Shut up, Ururu! I won’t clean up ‘cause I’m scared of Tessai!!”

“No, you _will_ clean ‘cause you’re scared of him!”

He started jabbing at her with the bristled-end, “I’m not scared of nobody! Anyway, you’ve got no right to boss me around!”

Ururu was dodging fairly decently as Rukia approached unnoticed, “_Ow- _Yes, I do. I’m – _ow_ – three years older than – _ow_ – you!”

“Big deal, I’m stronger-” Rukia caught the broom, “Who did that?!”

She was amused, remembering similar instances between her and Renji, but she didn’t show it as to not encourage Jinta, “Rowdy as ever, eh, kid.”

Ururu gave a small smile even as Jinta just frowned, “Hello.”

He just turned on his heel with a _hmph_, throwing open the sliding door, “Tessai!”

“Jinta?” The large man paused in his moving of some boxes, “Ah. Kuchiki-san? I’ll be with you in one moment.”

She poked her head into some of the normal – the very small selection of normal, name-brand, sweets – as she waited, wondering which one Ichigo might appreciate, “What is it you need, Kuchiki-san? We just got a shipment from the other side yesterday, if that’s what you’re after here today?”

Rukia nodded, “To start. Where’s the manager? I didn’t think he ever left.”

A strange look came to Tessai’s face, “Bailing a friend out of prison.”

There was a moment of awkward silence as Tessai had a _please-don’t-ask_ look on his face and she almost asked despite that, because _bailing a friend out of prison?_ A, she didn’t think Urahara had very many friends, and B, _what had they done to be in prison??_ Hadn’t she heard that Urahara had been the Maggot Nest’s _prison warden_ before he was a squad captain??

“So, what was it that you wanted to start with?”

She pulled out her pager, popping off the back and tossing the spent battery to Tessai, “One kikanshinki text message-r power cell.”

“What grade?”

“The cheapest.” Tessai didn’t quite give her a _judgy_ look, but it was edging there with a side of _disappointed_, like he was making clear what he thought of her choices without quite saying it because she _was_ a customer.

She held up the pager, “When the manager’s back in, I need him to look at the pager. It’s been on the fritz. It’s on but it’s not picking up what it should have the last couple of days, the battery might be part of the problem but it’s not a long-term fix like I think this needs.”

He nodded, making a note on a piece of paper, before she continued.

“Sixty somafixer internal soul-fixing medicine, too.”

The _judgy-disappointed_ look came across a little clearer, “It’s none of my business, Kuchiki-san, but too much of this stuff is bad for you. If you stay in that gigai too long, it’ll be rough coming out again. You’ve already been in there nearly a month and a half.”

“I know that, but it’s slowing down, responding sluggishly.”

Tessai eyed her for a moment, taking her in and clearly seeing something he wasn’t quite pleased with, “I’ll schedule a check-up with the manager, on the house. And I don’t think you’re having problems staying _in_ the gigai, I think you have a wound to your soul, slowly leaking reiatsu and the somafixer is just helping you utilize the lost reiatsu.”

She nodded, because that sounded in line with what she knew was wrong; she _shouldn’t_ be losing so much reiatsu so quickly. The low drain she’d been experiencing she had almost missed if not for the boost the arrow gave her alerting her to how _much_ she’d just _lost_, as she had just thought she’d estimated how much she’d lost to Ichigo wrong any time there’d been a problem.

“Are you paying with your card?”

Rukia handed over her pager, “This.” – and he’d plugged it into the database – “Ah. Bonus money?”

He spent a couple of minutes scowling down the long list of hollows that Ichigo had been taking care of these last six weeks, as she hadn’t bothered seeing if there had been any money in them when most of those hollows that they’d run across had been small-fry, but Yûichi had attracted something bigger.

“Sorry, most of these are too small time for the bonus list. Nuisances, really. There were a few that bagged a few hundred a piece, but one was a real menace. Shrieker, he had a bonus – five thousand. It says he ate two shinigami?”

She nodded, “He had lots of little brainless minions, split-offs of himself I guess, that were filled with explosive leeches that he set off with a click of his tongue. He was cunning, only five years old though, luckily.” – wincing as she remembered how badly she’d fared against him, and how well she’d fared with containing Yûichi’s mom – “Have you heard of a hollow evolving a secondary, false mask atop their own?”

His eyes narrowed, “No. New trick?”

“Yeah, met her fighting Shrieker. They’d turned with each other, evolved in tandem. He got explosives and she got extra armor to counter. He’d killed her, then pulled her son’s soul out of his body and into a cockatiel, and she hyper-focused on him to the point that she wouldn’t attack her son in her need to kill him. He told the boy that he could bring her back to life, making the boy try and hide away on the run for three months but just killing anyone who got close.” – Tessai took notes, to pass the word on that such a thing was _possible_ now, while she brought up the _other_ incident of the whole mess – “Also, Hell Gate is a terribly misleading name. And it’s traumatizing. The one line we get in the Academy about it does not do it justice. And _there’s two disembodied heads, I’ve seen the one, eat a man in the Rukongai._ How is this not known??”

He looked at her, _just_ looked at her, clearly thinking that he’d heard wrong, “Excuse me?”

“_Two disembodied heads. I’ve seen one eat a man in the Rukongai_. I thought it was just a hunger-driven hallucination, but it _smiled_ and _recognized me_. _A god grabbed the female hollow and her armor _shattered_ to reveal her plus soul_. Why did no one warn me??”

He set down his notes, looking very serious behind his glasses, “What.”

Rukia ruthlessly stamped down on the part of that wanted to be _hysterical because did no one really know?!?_ to breathe in, breathe out, “I know. _I was there_. I would hardly believe it myself if _the god hadn’t just looked amused at Shi-_Ichigo! Like _why??!_”

She didn’t quite succeed, but Tessai hardly seemed to be judging her, looking so long-suffering she actually felt sorry for him, and _she_ was the one that had _seen this_, “A god was _amused_ at Ichigo-chan? A family of fools he was born into, twice. Only a Shiba could make a god amused just by existing.”

His wording made her blink, “You know Ichigo is Shiba-fukutaichou reborn? _As_ _Shiba_-_taichou’s_ _son_?”

Tessai pinched his nose before reaching out to the counter, popping a false bottom for some shelf or drawer, before pulling out a sake bottle at least as old as her service with the Gotei 13, and two cups, pouring a cup then drinking it then and there.

“Shiba-taichou suspects, he came in here in a mild panic a couple of times about it when Ichigo-chan was little, but tries to not think too hard on his older nephew being reborn as his son. Kisuke has a bet with Yoruichi about whether he’ll manifest a zanpaku-tō more typical his father’s line as a _getsu_, or if Nejibana will show her face again. Kisuke is under the impression that Nejibana will come back because she was just as possessive as his Benihime is.” He poured her a cup, and another for himself that he drank.

She sipped at it, eyes almost watering at how _strong _it was.

“Do you have any other business with us, Kuchiki-san? No offense, but I’m going to close up early today, I think.”

Rukia was fairly certain that the sake that Tessai was drinking without a blink could strip paint, “Has my order arrived?”

He nodded, “Ururu, would you get it please?”

The girl smiled happily, nodding and humming as she rushed to do as asked.

A moment later she came back with a cloth wrapped ‘candy’ dispenser, handing it over with a wide smile, “Here you go, Kuchiki-san!”

She unwrapped enough to see the duck’s head, and softly sighed, thought about commenting that it wasn’t the exact model she’d ordered, saw Tessai down a third cup of sake even as he put the rest away, and thought better about it, “Thank you.”


	5. Kisuke Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #Canon-Typical Urahara warning

Kisuke had been having a marvelous morning; Tessai had brought him breakfast in bed, the latest order from Soul Society had come in the night before, Ichigo’s reiatsu was calm, he was going to work in his lab on a final prototype of a soul-deep headache medicine that he had high hopes on.

It was a _good_ morning.

He’d dug out some of the research he’d squirrelled away after Yoruichi had stolen it from Soul Society’s labs, intending to use a piece of it as a sort of test of Ichigo’s character, doing a switch-and-bait with what Rukia had ordered, when he got a call on the ever-so-rarely-used landline for the shop.

With a flutter of his fan and a wide grin – thinking that perhaps it was a customer for the shop’s small online presence making a special order, and oh he _loved_ special orders, it meant he got to go a bit crazy with new options because he was ordering supplies anyway – he answered, “Urahara Shoten~ What can I do for you~”

There was a bit of a pause, and an awkward cough, “Um, are you, um, Urahara Kisuke?”

His smile didn’t dim in the slightest, his customers were always a little awkward when ordering over the phone – particularly as there was a very special option where he made the sweets in _special_ shapes, and people got so _flustered_ – and if it _wasn’t_ a customer, Tessai had given him free run to terrorize any prank callers or scammers, “That is I~ For what reason am I being called~”

“Um, we have your cat?”

He blinked, giggling because he hadn’t expected for his suggestion for Yoruichi to be chipped to actually be useful considering it had been the prize for a _very_ drunken bet, “Princess! Oh, that naughty boy~ Where was he this time?”

“Uh, Minamikawase. We’re the Cat Shelter a couple of blocks away from the Kurosaki Clinic, do you need directions?”

He laughed, because whenever Yoruichi came back into town, he always ended up getting an update on the Kurosaki family in the process so it wasn’t a surprise that this had happened at some point, it was half the reason the suggestion had been made in the first place, “Nope~ I’ll be there in a minute~ Can you hold the phone out to him?”

“Uh, sure?”

“Daddy’s coming Princess!!”

There was a loud murderous yowl on the other line as he hung up.


	6. Chapter 6

After leaving Chad, Yuzu had been chattering at him, talking about how she’d like a pet of her own – her friends always trusted _her_ over anyone else to check in with any pets while they were gone, and it was unfair that they couldn’t have one because Goat Face couldn’t be trusted with small animals and larger animals were unrealistic with the clinic.

(_Isshin was always terrible with animals, too ham-fingered._)

Which, he’d known vaguely of how Yuzu had a very unofficial job as a sort of pet-sitter for her friends, but he hadn’t realized that had expanded to the older ladies his sister met on her shopping trips, and the sewing club that his sister went to once a week.

She was pouting as she walked inside, refusing to look at Goat Face when he exuberantly greeted them, giving him the silent treatment for now as she started on dinner.

(A part of him was cackling, the voice echoing strangely, but very deeply amused with Yuzu.)

Goat Face was crying at his mother’s poster because of it when Tatsuki knocked on the door, and then walked in.

There was a wide smile on her face, a glitter in her eye that instinctively made him start back-pedaling, “Ichigo~”

Goat Face saw her, his greeting meeting an abrupt stop as he saw her face, “Tatsuki-ch-!” Looking like he was having flashbacks about looks like that on women.

(**Smart man.**)

As such, he was dragged out of the door without a protest by Goat Face, who instead gave a girlish giggle, “Be gentle with him, Tatsuki-chan~”

Ichigo made sure that as he was pulled through the door by his arm, that he flipped his father off, “I hope you get herpes!”

Tatsuki snickered even as she pulled him along, not headed for any particular location that he could divine, before randomly asking, “How do you feel about tattoos?”

(He’d had a tattoo. He’d worn it with pride for a long time, a lifetime.

But he’d never had one?)

“Not sure I’ve thought about it in a long time.”

(He knew where he wanted one, where one _belonged_.)

She made a non-committal noise, then traced a familiar swirl on his left fore-arm, “It should look like this, if you get one.”

(She _knew_, knew what it looked like where his memory was fragmented, where he wasn’t sure he wasn’t thinking of the symbol that his father had traced for him as belonging to _them_.

It felt _right_ that she knew.

He thought that maybe she’d help him get it the first time?)

“That sketchy shop-keeper that sells the sweets that Orihime likes, Urahara, I’m fairly sure that he could help you get a tattoo if you asked. He seems the sort to know a shady tattoo artist, because he has some sort of gang ties. There’s crimson and gold scales down his spine, and a two on the inside of his left wrist and a twelve on the right.”

(A part of him choked on air, starting to laugh and not stopping.)

“I’m pretty sure Goat Face could do something simple like this if I really wanted it and couldn’t wait until it’s _legal_. I don’t think anyone smart lets Urahara near them with a needle.”

(The laughter got louder, _K-k-kisuke, g-gang t-ties! S-smart, n-ne-needles!_)

She hummed, “True. Urahara feels like the mad scientist type. What was that English saying? Give an inch and take a mile? He fits it.” – then sat them down on a street corner at a bus stop, pulling out a sharpie – “Still, it doesn’t feel _right_ that you don’t have this tattoo. Marker will have to do for now.”

Tatsuki traced an extended spiral along his left fore-arm, then seemed to settle as she smiled, “There!”

(Until she’d said something about a tattoo, he hadn’t realized that he’d been missing _this _something.

So many things weren’t quite _right_; sometimes he looked in the mirror and the face he was looking at wasn’t his, and sometimes he thought about dying his hair more like Goat Face’s. He’d learned to live with the feeling of loss and vague wrongness that his skin wasn’t his own, and had instead made a point to _make_ it his own.)

As they stood and began to amble back towards the clinic, he filled her in on how he was thinking about bringing home a cat for Yuzu.

He didn’t need to say why.

She got a glint in her eye, and for a moment, he _remembered_ that she’d _always_ been skilled in hand-to-hand, and that judo wasn’t the first unarmed combat she’d learned, “Archery is only really good for distance, and useless without a bow and arrows. Why don’t I teach your sisters some self-defense?”

Ichigo knew she didn’t mean against the _living_; Karin was fairly proficient there, and Yuzu had learned some by proxy, enough to get away if nothing else.

Despite being posed as a question, he knew it wasn’t. Yuzu and Karin were as good as family to Tatsuki; a big sister even if not by blood, and she _knew_ what it _meant_ to be a Big Sister too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #Benihime is possessive
> 
> #Yuzu is Competent


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;3

Ichigo was expecting to find Rukia in his closet when he finally went upstairs as the sky started to darken, intending to do the day’s homework before the pager had a chance to go off and he spent all night chasing hollows again.

And he did.

She was passed out in a pair of Yuzu’s pajamas, half in his spare futon with her cheek to one of Karin’s manga.

Rukia was a bit of a light sleeper, it didn’t usually take much rustling of his bed covers in the night for her to wake up. He figured that she’d tell him anything he needed to know in the morning, if the pager didn’t go off during the night.

Only, as he made to sit down at his desk, there was a cat.

At his second-story window.

That managed to _open the window._

“What?”

It hopped in, somehow managing to kick the window closed behind it in the process. Then it met his gaze as it settled in on his pillow for a black puddle, and meowed in the deepest, fakest, voice he’d ever heard from a cat, “Meow.”

Cat-shaped it may have been, but not for one second did he believe this was _actually _a cat, “_Why_?”

(For some reason, it looked very familiar. He _knew_ this cat.)

It – no, that was a _boy_-cat, it didn’t have the slightest compunction about lifting one leg off his _pillow_ to lick at its _balls_ – gave a judgy look that only a cat could give. Like he should know that he was a cat and therefore not subject to whatever foolish human ideas he had of ownership here.

“I’m not buying whatever you’re selling. You know exactly what you’re doing.”

A falsely innocent look settled on its face, golden eyes far too amused, as his door was abruptly thrown open with Goat Face coming flying through a moment later, “_IIIICCCCCHIIIIGOOOO!_” – that he easily side-stepped for his father to slam into the wall, but he wasn’t paying any attention to him, but instead of how the cat was completely chill during the whole episode, unlike _literally everything else that witnessed this_ without _years_ of acclimation to the behavior – “Good job dodging my kick of love!”

(The cat _knew_ them. Didn’t react to Goat Face.

Like _hell_ this was a _normal_ cat.)

(A part of him was watching narrowed-eyed, because there was a _far_ too amused look in that cat’s face his way, and _that_ was a _predator_, his _instincts_ recognized that with no regard to size or shape.)

Ichigo gave his father a flat look for how apparently his window was so easily opened that a _cat_ could pop it open, his eye twitching as he pointed at the cat _just sitting on his pillow_, “YUZU!”

Isshin choked on air, before Karin came up behind him and smacked him on the back, sending him into a coughing fit as Yuzu poked her head around his doorframe, “Ichi-nii? What is it?”

“Goat Face got you a cat.”

(_Under the cart Isshin goes~_)

She squealed even as Goat Face’s watery eyes went wide as they met the cat’s, throwing herself at his side in excitement hard enough to rock him back into a wall, “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!”

Yuzu moved almost faster than his eyes could track to his bed, gently and quickly picking the cat up and off his pillow to tuck the large feline against her chest, “Let’s get you some food and water, I just picked up some cod today.”

Ichigo reached over without looking to peel his stunned father off his wall as Karin followed her twin with a curious look, as the cat started purring up a storm, looking far too amused while holding Isshin’s gaze.

Goat Face proceeded to clutch at his leg, wailing, “_WHY ICHIGO?? WHY _THAT_ CAT??_ _DO YOU HATE ME??_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three guesses at the cat, and the first two don't count.


	8. Isshin Interlude

Isshin _knew_ that Ichigo didn’t realize that wasn’t a real cat.

Or maybe he knew _something_, because his son wasn’t stupid. They both knew Rukia was living in his closet, and that he knew about it, but just weren’t talking about it because he wasn’t bringing it up and Ichigo wouldn’t unless he had to.

As it was, Ichigo had flipped the table when he’d tried to slip him a few condoms yesterday, beet red and sputtering. Luckily Ichigo was far from suave or capable of hiding things, so even if it had been a joke, it was reassuring that his son was still a child in some matters despite the danger he was being exposed to.

Anyway, if he wasn’t mistaken, anyone interested in Ichigo would have to meet Tatsuki’s approval and/or get past her. That girl had been scaring away any crushes on his son for years when they went unnoticed and/or unacknowledged long enough that it was getting uncomfortable for anyone watching.

Yuzu’s cooing as she pet at the large black cat while she eagerly ate an entire fish made him twitch, drawing him out of his thoughts, because the cat was _smug_, eating the fish that was supposed to be _his_.

Then any time his hand inched towards the phone, intending to call Kisuke to come get Yoruichi before she ate him out of house and home, he was subject to a glare that made it clear retribution would be _swift_ and _painful_.

As it was, the moment she was done eating, she sauntered over, stretching up to put her paws perilously close to his groin, flexing sharp claws, and he froze stiff beneath her sharp smile.

“Yuzu, honey, I doubt a cat this well-fed is a strAY-!”

Blood was drawn even as Yuzu narrowed her eyes, pouting with her arms crossed, “No collar, no owner. This is clearly the king of cats; he doesn’t need a person to take care of himself.”

She popped open the back door, “Your Majesty, I will not keep you if you don’t want to be here any longer tonight.”

Isshin had a moment to realize what opening Yuzu had given Yoruichi – and _despair_ – before her deep voice spoke up, “The fish was delicious, kitten.”

There was a moment of staring from all of his children, before Yuzu recovered quickest, blushing from the praise, “A chef always likes to know their food is appreciated.”

Karin kept staring, “The cat just talked.”

Ichigo just looked despairing, even as Yoruichi abandoned his half-kneaded and bleeding thighs to twine around Yuzu’s legs, purring up a storm as she happily petted the black pelt.

Isshin rather thought Ichigo had the right of it as he dropped his head onto the table, groaning, “Why . . ?”

Now they had _two_ free-loaders, and Yoruichi had made it clear he wasn’t to tell Kisuke where she was yet so he couldn’t even be _reimbursed_.

As if summoned, his phone rang and he barely pulled it off the receiver before Kisuke’s voice came out loud and clear, wobbly with dramatics, “Princess has run away from home, Isshin! What did I do _wrong!!_ The vet just asked if I wanted him neutered, and I get clawed across the lip for it!”


	9. Rukia

Rukia woke up with a cat on her chest, patting at her cheek, “Wake up already.”

She blinked – confused because no one else was _around_ so _who spoke_ – before watching as the cat stretched, kneading _sharp_ claws – _ow_ – then jumping down. Looked up, she saw that the sun was _up_ and realized she’d not just slept in, but had missed most of _first_ _period_.

The cat just looked amused as she rushed to get changed, then jumped out the window.

The cat closed it behind her, and _that_ fact made her stumble her landing and smack face-first into a wall.

“_Ow._”

Rubbing her nose, she rushed towards the school, and managed to get to the classroom before second period.

“Good morning!” She smiled extra bright to cover for her tardiness.

Ichigo gave her a squinty-eyed flat look, but Mizuiro and Keigo smiled in kind, “Oh. Good morning.” “Kuchiki-san!! Radiant, as always!~”

Mizuiro looked at her a bit closely, “But later than usual. Ichigo said you were sick.” – then looking pointedly at her uniform, which was different from the ones worn by everyone else and she hadn’t even noticed in her rush – “Winter uniform?”

She colored a little, “Oops. I woke up late, rushed here, must have grabbed the wrong one.”

She wouldn’t even be doing this if she’d managed to wake up on time today, but she hadn’t slept so hard since when she’d been dreaming of her zanpaku-tō, and indeed she remembered snippets of Sode no Shirayuki looking at her from amongst a vast water landscape not familiar to her when she focused. But she’d come to school for one purpose and one purpose only, and she turned towards him with a polite smile, “Ichigo, may I have a word with you?”

He blinked, “Huh?” – before scowling – “If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

Her smile didn’t waver as she sucker-punched him below the belt, “OOF?!”

She fluttered her hands as he fell in a heap, changing colors and groaning “Oh my! You’re not well, Ichigo!” – before she started dragging him out the door she’d barely entered – “I’d better take you to the Nurse’s Office!”

On the other side of the door was Chad, who just stared at them for a moment, “Ah.”

He calmly picked his friend up in a bridal carry and followed her lead out of the building.


	10. Chapter 10

Ichigo groaned in a slump against the wall Chad had left him by.

His friend had just asked, “You good?” – and when he’d responded in a vague affirmative, because he would be, even if he intended to get revenge at some point for that low blow, Chad had made to return to class.

He’d just managed to uncurl before Rukia was tossing something at him, “Here.”

Ichigo eyed it, turning it around in his hand, but it just looked like a Pez. The top was a duck’s head, and for some reason, it was a little unsettling to look at long.

“What is this?”

“Gikongan – substitute soul pills! They force the soul of the physical body. Shinigami use them to evict stubborn souls from cadavers. Keep them on you!” He raised an eyebrow at her, “Did you get these yesterday while fixing the pager?”

Her cheeks colored a little, “The pager is not exactly _fixed_. I got a patch-job since the manager was out.” – before she pointed at what she’d thrown him – “I ordered this a while ago, a contingency plan for if you encounter a hollow and I’m not around. These pills will enable you to boot yourself out of your body to fight it.” He made a _go_ _on_ motion, “How?”

She popped the not-Pez open, revealing a round, strangely shiny ball sitting atop several duller ones, “When you swallow one of these, a temporary soul enters your body and pushes out your own soul.”

“Gikongan, eh?”

She waved him off, “Yes. Just push the duck’s head and out pops a pill.” – even as he pointed out the writing on the side that clearly said ‘Soul Candy’ – “Gikongan sounded too clinical, so the benevolent women’s society of shinigami chose a cuter name. That was three years ago.”

“Why a duck?”

Rukia immediately got flustered, “Don’t worry about Yuki! They’re all in demand so you take what you can get! I tried to get that adorable rabbit Chappy!”

(For some reason, he wasn’t surprised that Rukia had wanted the rabbit.)

“Don’t look at me like that!! So, I like bunnies, okay?!”

Considering that she was walking toward him with fist raised, _daring_ him to comment, he dropped the subject, “I’m not sure I really get how this works. It’s like your glove?”

Her eyes stayed narrowed at him even if she dropped the fist, “Just try it! You’ll understand then!”

Ichigo was skeptical – there was something _different_ about the first pill, and he wasn’t inclined to just try it on faith to somebody he only vaguely knew from years ago – but he didn’t have any reason to be. Rukia certainly wasn’t.

Still, he slowly pushed on the duck’s head, which let out a loud _quack!_ – before a pill popped out, and he swallowed it.

In seconds, he was pushed out of his body – his body slumping over a railing – “Whoa. It worked.”

Her nose lifted up, “Surprised? Ha! I told you so!” – before she was pointing at where his body was straightening up independent of him – “Now, instead of laying around like a dead pig, your body will be animated by a proxy soul. No one’ll ever know you’re gone!”

“Hey!”

(He did _not_ like watching his body move without his control.

It reminded too much of another time that his mind shied away from.)

He stared aghast at how his eyes _sparkled_ and his face moved in an expression he was sure he’d _never_ made, all passive and polite without any sort of passion, saluting him, “_Greetings~ My name is Kurosaki Ichigo~ ‘Early to bed, early to rise’, that’s my motto~_”

Every word out of his body’s mouth made hives break out, at how _unnatural_ it all was.

“What.”

(It made him something claw to get out, **_no one else get to control-!_**)

His body went ramrod straight, eyes widening, but before his body could do more than open his mouth, Rukia beamed, tooting her own horn, “He has the ideal personality, designed by one hundred and eight of our best scientists! Impressive, no?”

“No! He’s a total _dork!_ I’ll be _ruined! Years_ of attitude – flushed down the drain in ten minutes!”

The pager beeped, interrupting his tirade because he’d worked very hard on the image he’d crafted, built up to limit how many times a day he got challenged because of his hair, and he could _tell_ that this temporary soul was going to make things so much _worse_. He’d _just_ gotten to a point where he only got a challenge once a month. _Years_ of work-

“An order! Perfect timing! He’ll take your place while we go fight the hollow!”

“Are you out of your _frickin’ mind!?_” Rukia ignored him, “Stop whining! Duty calls!”

She grabbed his arm and started dragging him behind her, and he dragged his heels, slowing them down to almost nothing “He won’t fool anybody!”

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the fake soul inhabiting his body, jabbing a finger back at him, “Listen, me. You’ll get your butt back to class. And lay low!”

“_Don’t worry, Master~_”

That tone ringed false to his ears and just needed a fan waved in front of his face to complete the image.

The little hand-wave his body gave – just a step away from giving off a _te-he-he-he_ and gave _him_ goosebumps – had him narrow his eyes further in suspicion.

Particularly, as it _looked like his body mouthed, _“Take your time.”_ As they got out of sight of each other._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #not until I was writing this #did I realize that Kaien/Ichigo would have a problem with a kaizo konpaku #in retrospect #it was a little obvious considering how Kaien had died not really in control of his actions


	11. Kisuke Interlude

Kisuke had walked away from another phone call to Isshin bemoaning Yoruichi’s absence in a good mood. His old friend was mildly terrorizing the Shiba, if the way his voice wavered and wobbled while on the phone was any indication.

They both were mildly terrorizing him, as was their due considering _Ichigo_.

Yoruichi had gone over there for a reason, though, before the pet shelter got involved, and she would stick around until it was resolved.

The protective barrier around the Kurosaki Clinic regarding hollows had gotten fixed after Rukia’s and the Kurosaki family’s wounds had been taken care of, and it had been strengthened as Isshin had started to really recover his reiatsu since the jump in his son’s reiatsu. So that wasn’t the problem, as Tessai had already swung over during one school day to make sure it was holding still with the fluxing of reiatsu coming from the five of them there.

Which meant it was the twins.

Karin’s reiatsu had seemed to evolved to something considerably closer to her brother’s in the last week, and that was one concern.

Yuzu’s reiatsu hadn’t changed since Masaki’s death, on the other hand.

He and Tessai had theorized that Isshin’s reiatsu had taken so long to start to build up again because the reiatsu bond between Isshin and Masaki may have also formed, naturally and far less strong, between Yuzu and Isshin. Unlike her siblings, her hollow hadn’t seemed to bind with what part of her that was shinigami, and thus was far more integrated, instead it was trying to bind, not eat, the part of her that was Quincy. Much like how after twenty years, Masaki’s had been, only with her naturally being part shinigami, it had been doing so all along. Her soul had needed Isshin’s reiatsu though, to keep it stable while in typical Shiba-Kurosaki fashion, _it did what it should not have been able to_, latching onto the cut end of Isshin’s bond.

Yoruichi was likely just keeping a closer eye on it, as the whole household was in flux, and had been for nearly as long as Yoruichi had been gone this long for.

Thanks to Ichigo. Since that boy had been born – reborn – he’d witnessed more _should not have been able to_ than he had in his entire lifetime prior, and he’d created the Hogyoku.

As such, as he’d taken as many konpaku off Soul Society’s hands as possible when the project was put an end to, he’d intentionally put one in Rukia’s order of gikongan, as a test.

A test of character. How Ichigo reacted to the konpaku would tell him everything he needed to know about how Ichigo would react in the future, to far more complex, far bigger issues, than just a false soul being created and then destined for death because of two-faced laws.

Things like the Vizard.

Things like whether he and Yoruichi could trust him to one day help them fix what had gone wrong in Soul Society, in the whole _system_, somewhere along the line.

It made his reaction to peeking into the box he’d left Rukia’s gikongan in, and discovering it gone, totally fake, “Oh no!”

He dramatically threw open the door to the shop proper, “Tessai! We have a problem~”

The flat look he got from his friend said that he was totally aware that this was a problem of his own making, but he should probably explain what _this_ time, was the problem, “I may have put Kuchiki-san’s order in the wrong box?”

The look he got, got even flatter.

“I definitely put her order in the wrong box. A box whose contents I should have disposed of before this. I had it labeled though!”

Tessai turned to look at where Jinta and Ururu had paused in their bickering to re-arrange the store less like his half-alphabetized half-random mess into something more profitable, “Ururu, can you bring me the box you grabbed Kuchiki-san’s order from?”

Ururu quickly nodded, and ran off to fetch it, before dropping the heavy thing down on the counter in-between them.

Jinta peered at it, eyes narrowing before he whirled on Ururu, pointing at the label he had written on it before all this, so _he_ would _intentionally_ sell this to Rukia, and not anyone else, “Here! Take a good look! What does it say?! Read it!”

“Detective Soul?”

Above their heads, Tessai gave him a reproachful look considering the kids had gotten dragged into his game despite intentions.

“What’s that? Some Hong Kong action star?! It’s defective, de-_fec_-tive!!” – Jinta looked a little wild-eyed as he slammed a hand down on a counter that he’d half-climbed atop to lean closer to Ururu – “You sold her a busted soul!”

He grabbed her by bangs, “Geeze, cockroach!!” – tugging on them – “Do you need glasses!?”

Kisuke waved a hand at them, “Stop fighting, you two! It’s an easy mistake to make. We’ll schedule you both an eye appointment just to be safe.”

Tessai made a note, then tucked it into his back pocket for now, “Soul Society won’t be happy if they find out. Bad for business, too.” – before looking at him – “What should we do?”

Kisuke _had_ planned for this, if not _quite_ this way.

“We have no choice. We’ve got to find and neutralize it before it causes any trouble. Who knows what it will do at large in a human body.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #some possible explanations for Isshin's continued low reiatsu and Yuzu's low reiatsu


	12. Tatsuki Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #the casual reminder that Orihime lives with Tatsuki post-Sora-breaking-her-wall  
#Chizuru warning

Tatsuki had watched as Rukia had sucker-punched Ichigo to get him out of the room.

(A part of her had been hysterically laughing, hitting the floor and tears in her eyes, at the idea of _Rukia_ sucker-punching _him_. She’d always liked the younger girl, at how she’d yet to polish off those rough edges from the Rukongai even as she’d tried to be meek.

This was the girl that had taken months of her husband pulling her into a head-lock to remember to use those dirty tricks she knew to escape instead of freezing stiff, caught in indecision.

She was glad that the girl hadn’t lost who she was to the nobles, even if her polished façade could still use some work.)

(Another part of her was disappointed in _Kai-_Ichigo.

She remembered pulling a trick like this on him, when he teased Byakuya and did so in front of his squad. He _knew_ how to dodge.)

She had told the teacher when she’d done roll-call that Ichigo had gone home sick, then stared dead-eyed at the boys who’d looked like they’d wanted to say something about Rukia popping in and dragging him out.

(They folded easier than the Squad Eleven boys she’d had to put the fear of women into when they’d broken the wall into her captain’s garden.)

All through class, her eyes had drifted out the window, expecting something.

Maybe the open window to carry Ichigo’s voice in?

Orihime had twice abruptly stood up, throwing out far more complicated math than the class had called for, to justify random theories about baseball – the example problem referenced it, and apparently Orihime knew more than she let on – and reminded her of where they were, even as the teacher had rapidly tried to copy down what Orihime was saying about halfway through once it computed that she was using real math.

It was fun watching how distracted everyone got when Orihime let slip how smart she was, which covered how she had been paying almost no attention prior to that.

(There were memories that were and weren’t hers, people she expected to see but didn’t, that some she’d always had, tucked away but never acknowledged until _Rukia_.

Rukia threw her out of whack almost as much as Ichigo did. Without seeing the orange-haired boy, sometimes it was easy to slip and slide down that rabbit hole of memories.

Right now, she felt like she was in a lieutenant’s meeting that Kaien had begged out of because he’d drunk too much with his sister, and it was _boring_, she didn’t know how Kaien had let their captain talk him into this.

Right now, she felt like she was looking at the wrong person, the person standing in front of her should have long white hair, a man in a white haori.)

Orihime had winked at her whenever she caught her eye after those moments, and she owed her a trip to Urahara’s for this.

(She needed to visit Urahara anyway.

If anyone could fuck with the reincarnation cycle, and would before he thought if he _should_, it would be him. She was still pissed at him for something like this, because something he’d done had made Kaien _sad_.)

_Eventually_, class ended and it was lunch.

“Yahoo!! Lunch time!” Orihime all but bounced out of her seat with excitement.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes at her friend, “Here we go again. I’ve told you, Orihime, it’s only lunch.” – but still smiled because it was hard to not be happy with Orihime around – “not New Year’s.”

Orihime struck a pose, “_Only_ lunch, Tatsuki?! Lunch is the reason we girls come to school!”

Her dramatics always made her feel better, because Orihime only ever chose to be dramatic over stupid things and locked down on more serious things so she knew to take her seriously then.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. You can sit down now.”

Orihime hopped back in her seat, bending down into her bag for her food and pulling out a _whole loaf of bread_ and a can of red bean paste, “What do you have today, Tatsuki?! I’ve got some bean paste and bread!”

Where did she even get that? Tatsuki hadn’t seen more than one loaf in their kitchen, and they hadn’t been anywhere where Orihime could have literally bought a solid loaf. Not to mention, _where did she hide it_? There was _not_ that much room in her bag for a whole loaf with her textbooks.

She didn’t let her smile waver though, “Lucky you. Unfortunately, mine’s standard issue slop.”

Even if it wanted to. She spoke up before Orihime pulled some mysterious third ingredient out of her bag that took this palatable meal and turned it _strange_, “I can make red bean paste.”

_Exactly_ aware of what she was saying and what it would result in, and how there would be more food in the fridge labeled ORIHIME that her family wouldn’t touch with a pole because of it.

“Really?! Cool! Teach me how?”

She nodded, and Orihime beamed at her before digging in, slathering some of the bean paste atop the bread and digging in like that.

Tatsuki heard Michiru and Ry; “How can Orihime eat like that and not get fat? I’m jealous.” “’Cause she’s a boob machine.” But she let it slide; it was fair. Unless you just completely disconnected the taste and/or consequences of Orihime’s diet, you ended up awake at two in the morning just staring at the ceiling in an existential crisis because _how_. Tatsuki should know; that’s what she’d done about a week into friendship with Orihime, and again, a week after living with her.

(In retrospect, Orihime was great practice of having more memories than she should; there were far fewer existential crises all around.)

Ichigo had already had his since Orihime had become more than just a friend of a friend, walking them home like he did, and firmly tried to _not think about it_.

(In the tried and true Ichigo method, the best way to deal with a problem that didn’t need to be solved right away, was: _just don’t think about it_.

She’d be waiting with popcorn when _someone_ in the Kurosaki family finally talked about where Rukia was living, because if she wasn’t living somewhere like Ichigo’s closet, Tatsuki would eat one of Orihime’s meals. He’d learn _someday_ about conversations that need to happen.)

Ryô had clearly learned to side-step the whole thing, and not overthought it, unlike Michiru who was looking at the taller girl with a slightly despairing look for the non-answer.

“Orihime!” Chizuru popped up right then, “Can I eat with you?”

Tatsuki paused mid-bite to blandly look at the other girl even as Orihime smiled, “Okay! Sure!”

Her friend had _no_ sense of self-preservation, clearly-

“How cute! You’ve got food all over your face and you don’t even care. That’s _power_ cuteness!! How can I help loving you?!” Chiruzu threw herself at Orihime, wrapping around her in a hug that knocked Tatsuki back, out of her chair and onto the ground. Then the red-haired girl gently lifted Orihime’s chin in one hand as the other lightly groped at one of Orihime’s breasts, “I’m hungry. For more than food. <3”

Her hand was steel on Chizuru’s shoulder, physically prying her away from Orihime, knocking her onto the ground as one hand balled into a fist, “Back off, Chizuru!!”

Chizuru gave her a narrowed-eyed look, “Shut up. Stay out of this.” – before smirking – “Unless you’re jealous, then you’re welcome to join.”

Tatsuki sputtered as Chizuru reclined in a chair, eyeing her speculatively, “You’ve got a pretty face, no doubt about that, but you’re too butch for my usual type.”

“Nobody asked you that!!”

Chizuru sighed, shaking her head slightly, “Hmm, it’s such a waste. Grow out your hair a little, act a little more feminine, I’d take you on a field tri-”

Tatsuki whacked her atop the head, “You’re the reason why we have sexual harassment assemblies _every_ term.” – not looking at where she’d knocked Chizuru out of her chair – “Jeez, Chizuru, even the boys aren’t so bad.”

Not seeing how nearly every boy in the room had averted their gaze the moment Tatsuki had started in on Chizuru, and not realizing that unlike with Chizuru, they’d learned _that_ lesson; don’t be a pervert where Tatsuki might find out about it, especially around Orihime.

Tatsuki wasn’t paying Chizuru any more attention though, eyes narrowing towards the windows overlooking the quad because Ichigo had run off with Rukia towards what was a hollow, dragging nails across glass to her senses, but there was also an _echo_ of Ichigo coming back. It was obviously _not_ Ichigo, even without Ichigo still within range, this _echo_ was too bland, too flat, with no sense of _sea-water/cold-dark-depths/heavy/static shock_ and a little of _ice_; it was just a hint of _flicker-flame/shallow water_.

Her eyes narrowed as she opened the window, not sure whether she wanted to just _look_ or if she wanted to reach for _feathers/sand-_

(Sea sand changes to desert sand beneath her spotted sharp wings as she flies to an oasis, a hawk’s cry drowned out beneath twisting sand.)

Orihime pulled her back just as a shape leaped up and onto the windowsill, “Is this 1-3’s classroom?”


	13. Chapter 13

Ichigo made quick work of the hollow Rukia had dragged him away for, unease building beneath his skin.

Reputation had been the easiest way to say it, but anyone else in control of his body, doing things that he didn’t choose, it poked and prodded at memories older than him.

(_His limbs had moved like they were on puppet strings, mouth splitting open in a parody of a grin, and he’d swung-_)

He’d always had it; it was why when they did assemblies about why not to do drugs, it hadn’t been the photos of all the things it could do his body – he’d been raised a doctor’s son, Goat Face had covered this already the moment he’d heard that an assembly was going to happen, in far more gruesome detail – but the testimonies of _I felt out of control, like I wasn’t in control of myself_, that had hit hardest.

They’d been talking about addiction, but the _I wasn’t in control_, that had always struck home, discouraged him the most.

(Looking back, he could remember Tatsuki having a similar reaction.

_Miyako-_)

This reminded him of the _why_ he’d felt like that.

(The nightmares he’d used to have a kid, senseless and vague shapes of puppetry.

The flashes of memory he’d had come forward in more concrete shapes since meeting Rukia.

_She’d been scared, so scared, her sword shaking as she held it up against him, and laughter had boiled out of his throat beyond his control, cruel, before he’d kicked her aside-_)

It made him rush back, faster than he’d ever moved before.

(With _shun_-_p__ō_.)


	14. Tatsuki Interlude

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

While the class panicked at someone showing up in their window on the _third-floor_, Tatsuki looked and saw Ichigo’s body, but _that wasn’t Ichigo_.

It was that echo of Ichigo, and _now she knew why_, Ichigo wasn’t _in control_ here.

(She _remembered_ going out on what should have been a milk run, remembered her squad mates _dying_, remembered losing her blade, remembered being pinned as it carved a hole in her soul, keeping her alive just enough as to not dissipate like her squad mates were even now beginning to do.

She remembered being brought back all-but-dead right into the heart of her home, listening to her captain and her husband _grieve_ at the sight of her dead body.

She remembered her body raising up without any control and slaughtering more of her squad mates before her husband faced her, tears in those golden brown- aqua green- eyes that wouldn’t fall.

She didn’t remember the fight.)

Orihime was the one to ask, “How did you do that?”

“How? You saw me. I jumped. No big deal . . for me.”

Ichigo’s lips shifted up, “Am I cool? Or am I cool?”

(“_FRESH MEAT! Aizen-sama even sent me a pretty one!_”)

The blood drained out of her face, vision graying out as she _saw_ Ichigo with gray-green skin, orange flame-like marks around his black eyes- heard him _laugh_-

“What the . .” “He jumped up to a third-story window?” “From the ground?!” “He must’ve climbed over from the next classroom.” “Did you see him?!” “No, I didn’t actually see him.”

Then he _moved_-

“He . .” “Flew?!”

He reached out for _Orihime_, “Hello, lovely lady-“

On her hands was her weapon, a band of iron fitted around, with three short curved blades like talons, and she swung, first the right.

“Woah!”

Then the left.

“Watch out!!”

Ichigo’s brown eyes – no gold hiding in them – were wide, afraid as he looked between her and the bird’s talons that had appeared on her hands, “Die, Imposter!”

(She moved with the grace of centuries of training, not a single wasted motion as she made to incapacitate him without wounding him fatally, brutally cutting through the desks that stood between her and him as he agilely bounced around, barely dodging her.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #I found one way to make Miyako's death worse than canon  
#now Kon has additional Trauma
> 
> #at this rate Tatsuki's going to hear her zanpaku-tou before Ichigo


	15. Rukia

Rukia was panting as she followed on Ichigo’s tail, trying to go as fast as she could even when he seemed to have figured out shun-pō, but he was already in the distance.

She was just able to see him bounce up and through the open window seconds before half a desk went flying out through glass.

Running up the stairs, she could hear, “Don’t kill _me_ Tatsuki!!”

Then she was barreling through the door, hardly able to see how Ichigo was caught between his inhabited body and Tatsuki, trying to catch one and dodge the other as she bounced between ignoring him and trying to attack him too.

“Freeze!!”

Tatsuki barely spared Rukia a glance.

Rukia went pale-faced and wide-eyed at the sight of the other woman’s weapon, which to her eyes was undeniably a zanpaku-tō. A zanpaku-tō that she _knew_.

_Miyako-sama_.

She would think _what were the chances-_ but Ichigo was involved, _of course, Kaien wouldn’t be the only one_. Ukitake-taichou would be happy to hear that they had reincarnated so quickly, and together.

Tatsuki didn’t pause at her entrance, instead nearly succeeding in pining Ichigo’s inhabited body through his shoulder if Ichigo hadn’t yanked him back by his shirt, “Tatsuki!!”

Ichigo’s body looked _terrified_; looking between her, Ichigo, and Tatsuki, like he _would_ get killed by one of them, and he wasn’t sure which one was more likely even with Tatsuki actively trying to.

Tatsuki faltered, and he immediately turned tail and _ran_.


	16. Chapter 16

“What the?! Wait!!”

Ichigo made to follow to the window, “Stop! It’s too high! That’s _my_ body you’re totaling!”

(**_Our body!_**)

Only to see that his body had caught himself on his feet, “Sheesh.” – before he _really_ took off – “Huh? He can run?”

(_What is he?_

**Not a fake-soul. He’s something _else_.**)

Rukia shoved her way beside him, eyes wide and slightly panicked even as Tatsuki settled on his other side, “What is he?”

“Could he be . . ? He _has to be _. . He’s a kaizo konpaku!!”

Tatsuki’s weapons were gone, returned to the ether like he’d twice pulled his zanpaku-tō from in intense need.

“Tell me later, Ichigo. Don’t die. I’ll take care of this end.” She kicked a desk to the side, and the class scuttled back a few more steps as he picked Rukia up under one arm and made to follow his body.


	17. Tatsuki Interlude

Ichigo was _fine_.

(_Kaien_ was fine. Or as fine as his reincarnated soul could be, when each day, he integrated a little more into Ichigo, just like Miyako did for her.

One day, it would be just them and their zanpaku-tō and she didn’t know what she’d do.

Just because it was the way it was supposed to be, didn’t make the idea any easier to swallow.)

_She_ wasn’t.

(_That_ hollow was dead, he had to be if she was her own person, born human.

He _had to be_, but a part of her hoped that she saw him again so she could kill him herself to end this nightmare of seeing him out of the corner of her eye now that she _remembered him_.)

“Whoa! Did a hurricane come through here?”

Keigo _shrieked_ at seeing her in the middle of the wreckage, periodically stomping on parts of desks where it was clear that it had been cut with something sharp to hide a weapon she shouldn’t have had, “AAAAAHH!!!”

He sounded a bit like Isshin did upon seeing a cockroach that Yuzu had to remove for him.

He _looked_ like Isshin, having leapt back, one leg raised to his chest as he leaned back, before he was hiding behind Chad, Mizuiro looking seconds from joining him, “A devil! A devil in the wreckage!!”

She was blaming Ichigo for that; the fool had let Keigo meet Isshin when he was younger and more impressionable than he still was, and now they had to deal with two Isshin in the world because of him.

“H-hey!!”

The short, stout, man that was 1-2’s homeroom teacher stepped past Chad, “What’s all the commotion? What happened here?!” – to see the destruction she’d left in her wake – “Arisawa-san!! Did you do this?! You owe me an expl-!”

Tatsuki looked at him with dead eyes, “What. Do I owe. You?”

A whimper escaped him, voice all but a whisper, “A devil. A devil in the wreckage!”

“Um.”

The man jumped in the air when Michiru spoke up, “Ogawa?! What- What happened?”

“A stranger came through the window! And Tatsuki tried to-”

He cut her off, “A stranger came through the window?! Nonsense! This is the third floor!” – eyes narrowing on Tatsuki – “If you’re lying to protect Arisawa-”

“She’s not lying.” Ryō walked up next to Michiru, “I saw it too.”

The man almost visibly deflated, “Huh? Oh. All right, if you say so, Kunieda. But it still seems unlikely.” – then stomped off, slamming the door behind him, “In any case – get this mess cleaned up immediately! I’ll alert the faculty to the intruder!”

The moment he was gone, Michiru flung herself at her friend, “Thanks, Ryō!!” – and got herself pat on the head in a _there, there_ manner, “Are _you_ okay, Tatsuki?”

Tatsuki flexed one bare hand, “Yeah. Thanks, Ryō, I owe you one.”

The other girl just waved her off, gaze shifting out the broken window, “Clearly, something’s going on. Ichigo was acting _weird._ Weirder than usual anyway. Is he possessed again?”

She winced at that, remembering the instances Ryō was talking about, as it hadn’t happened in a few years, but in the year after Masaki had died, Ichigo had gotten possessed _four_ different times. The fact that over half of the class, the ones that had been here since Ichigo had _entered_ schooling, all just nodded along, like _yeah, just another Tuesday then_, should perhaps be concerning. The newer transfers seemed more confused by their nonchalant behavior than anything she or Ichigo had done. She’d take advantage of that.

“Something like that, yeah.”


	18. Chapter 18

“Argh! We lost him!! . . Er, _me!!_”

Rukia just raised an eyebrow at him, “Which is it? You or him?”

He flailed an arm at her, “Don’t talk if you aren’t going to be helpful!! – before trying to get a sense of where he- his body- _Jumping Jack_ had gone – “I don’t- where _is_ Jumping Jack?”

She frowned, before looking back towards the school, “A Kaizo Konpaku was no match for a just-awakened shinigami soul. How _did_ the Twelfth think it could take on a hollow?”

“He fought against Tatsuki and didn’t die, that’s something. More than _most_ of her opponents can say.” Ichigo distinctly remembered two different instances of first meetings with the girl ending with him kissing the ground; it was probably just a _her_ thing, which was not exactly a fair measuring tool to Jumping Jack.

“Whatcha call him? A Kaizo Konpaku? Just what is that?”

Rukia looked at him, then looked away, trying to mask it by pulling out her notepad and a marker, “A while back, there was a Soul Society project called ‘Spearhead’. The idea was to inject special fighting spirits, into the bodies of dead humans.” – keeping her gaze on her bad art – “Some genius thought they could be used as soldiers against the hollows.”

Ichigo was getting a bad feeling at this, “Seriously?”

Not to mention that fighting hollows was _literally half_ of what a shinigami did. That’s one way to make a shinigami obsolete, or worse, complacent.

“They developed a combat-ready Konpaku which could supercharge some part of the host corpse’s body. _That_ is a Mod Soul.”

Ichigo noticed some had gotten enhancements not directly useful to battle, intentionally ignoring how Rukia’s drawings were not in line for how serious this subject should be, specifically eyeing the _intelligent_ one. That was probably a direct result of one of the scientists wanting an assistant, never intended for battle at all.

“Obviously, our boy, Jumping Jack you called him? Has enhanced the strength of your legs. They call that an _underpod_ type.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, sensing that wasn’t everything, “So, did one of your experiments just get away?”

She winced, “Spearhead was scrapped becomes some thought it was wrong to use dead bodies like that. All Mod Souls, including those still under development, were to be destroyed. I don’t know how this one survived. They’re supposed to be extinct.”

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, lips thinning unhappily, “Hold on.”

Rukia looked back at him, having done her best to not make eye contact this entire time, and looked taken back by how _angry_ he suddenly seemed to be, “You mean, he was created by Soul Socety, but now, he’s condemned just for being what they designed him to be? That’s just _fucked up_. Does that seem _right_ to you?”

She wouldn’t hold his gaze, “It’s not for me to judge. Mod Souls were condemned under Soul Society law! And don’t forget – those laws exist to protect human lives and souls!”

Hadn’t she ever heard of how if a law was unjust, then it was the _duty_ of a citizen to question it? Not questioning was how you created and perpetuated a tyranny.

“C’mon! Let’s go! You want your body back or not?!”

“No.”

Jumping Jack had hijacked his body, but he didn’t _ask_ to be created; did _nothing_ to deserve the death penalty. He somehow survived Doomsday, and now she was asking him to correct that?

“If the option is to let him keep it or kill him-”

He had a body now, was on the run just for his _life_, how must that _feel?_

“I’m not going to _kill him_. That’s _wrong!_”

Rukia looked uncomfortable as she stared back at him, like she was _supposed_ to argue, and she couldn’t remember the words.

Because she knew he was _right_.

(_Has the Kuchiki forgotten what duty the Soul King gave them?_)

“You’re just going to let him run around in your body?”

He felt his lips twist up, “Did I say that?”

(**_NO! We didn’t! That little brat isn’t going to be _keeping, our,_ body!_**)

Ichigo was going to find that little runaway and _evict_ him, then they’d be having a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #Aizen went about it all wrong #but he did have a point #Soul Society had stagnated #the rules needed to be revised #looked over #CHANGED #the one good thing he did #was remove Central 46 from the process  
#it was a missed opportunity #we could have seen how The Arrival of Ichigo FORCED Central 46 to get with the times #as it was #he still dragged Soul Society kicking and screaming into change  
#Ichigo the Revolutionary #Ichigo the Rebel


	19. Rukia

She stared after Ichigo as he started off in one direction, _knowing_ she hadn’t imagined that glint of gold with that _smile_, but she couldn’t focus on that. Even putting aside Ichigo being Shiba-fukutaichou’s reincarnation and Shiba-taichou _being alive_, there was still Tatsuki being Miyako-sama’s reincarnation, and now, the situation with the Mod Soul.

Tatsuki had managed to manifest her zanpaku-tō while still alive, even if it had appeared that only those with a high enough spiritual pressure had been able to _see_ it.

That shouldn’t be possible. Even ignoring every other impossible thing since meeting Ichigo, _that_ shouldn’t be possible.

There was no way Tatsuki had ever held an asauchi – though, neither could have Ichigo.

Yet _he_ had.

Ichigo she’d tried to dismiss as just being because Nejibana was possessive; the zanpaku-tō had never liked anyone else handling her more than necessary to return her to Shiba-fukutaichou. She could have believed that the zanpaku-tō had lingered in some fashion, or that him taking so much of her reiatsu, had helped him manifest a blade where he shouldn’t have been able. Or even because he was a _Shiba._

Tatsuki didn’t have _any _of that.

Rukia was blaming Ichigo for _that whole situation_, just as much as she was blaming him for this new situation with the Mod Soul. Only _Ichigo,_ would manage to find the one surviving amongst gikongan; _only Ichigo_.

Even as she followed Ichigo as he went off unerringly in one direction, she couldn’t remember Shiba-fukutaichou ever having any problem with reiatsu sensing. Ichigo just seemed to fluctuate between unerringly knowing and making a stab in the dark.

Which meant this was _probably_ just a stab in the dark, but Ichigo could still be leading them in the vaguely right direction despite that.

And even if they found the Mod Soul, Rukia didn’t know what they’d do.

She was duty-bound to destroy it, but she’d already broken laws since meeting Ichigo, this would be just one more. Still, she shouldn’t blatantly be ignoring every which law just because of Ichigo.

If her nii-sama found out about _any_ of this- She didn’t know what he’d do.

_Probably_ try to kill Ichigo and the Mod Soul. Which she _didn’t_ want.

Not to mention that Shiba-taichou would probably then try to kill Nii-sama for the attempt on his son’s life.


	20. Chapter 20

Rukia’s pager went off just as Ichigo neared Yuzu and Karin’s school, “Hollow, five minutes away – and it’s close!”

He didn’t say anything as he looked past her and saw orange hair running away from near Mashiba Middle School on the rooftops, “Where?” She didn’t get a chance to answer as he felt it scrap against his senses and took off towards where he could just about see the centipede-shaped hollow come out, “Ichigo!”

“This is so weak.”

“Why won’t she believe us?”

“Maybe because we lie a lot?

The three boys were laughing as it dived down unseen to their eyes.

Jumping Jack was a streak as he grabbed the three kids even as Ichigo dove in front, blade drawn to catch the hollow’s teeth.

“Whoa!” “Hey! The high schooler . .” “Wha- What was that for? What did we do to you?”

Jumping Jack yelled, “Run!!” The hollow drew slowly back with narrowed eyes, teeth grinding together, before darting right back at them, and when Ichigo made to block him again, he nearly slid back a step at the force.

“Huh?”

“You wanna die?! Get outta here!!”

Rukia appeared, panting and narrow-eyed at their backs, “Scatter, you brats!”

Even as Ichigo blocked another attempt to eat him, it also tried to lash out at Jumping Jack and the kids with one of its many legs, but was literally cut short before it could touch them, “Eyes on me, bug!”

“GRAAAHH!!!”

Jumping Jack bounced up and past him, and to the right, drawing the hollow further from the fleeing kids as it chased him, “That jerk!!”

He was jumping up after them in a heartbeat, “Heh, heh. You interrupted my lunch. Then you ran away from that shinigami. I don’t know you, but you must think you’re pretty-” – watching as the hollow tried to jab at Jumping Jack with a different leg – “TOUGH!!”

Ichigo launched his zanpaku-tō like a spear, pinning the leg before it could touch Jumping Jack, following it up himself – “Whoa. Why are you-” – slicing through it even as he turned and caught Jumping Jack by his shirt – “helping me?”

“GRAAAAAAAAAAH!”

He slammed his forehead to his inhabited body’s, “You dumbass! That’s _my_ body you’re trying to mess up!!”

Not looking away from where honey brown eyes had gone wide as blood trickled down their foreheads, before he swung out and cut through another leg, “GRAAARR!!”

“If you can’t fight without getting hurt, don’t be fighting!!”

“Hey, that hurt!!!”

Jumping Jack was staring, “Huh . .” – before he was glaring – “What’s your problem?! I had to fight him ‘cause you were running late! If I hadn’t been holding him off, those kids would be-”

“You . . I’ll eat you both!!”

They continued to hold glaring eye contact as Ichigo lashed out with his zanpaku-tō, and Jumping Jack with a foot, right to the hollow’s face, yelling together, “EAT THIS!!”

“Uhh . .”

The hollow started falling back, and Jumping Jack abruptly started racing after it, “Wha- Hey!!”

Ichigo chased after his errant body as Jumping Jack twisted beneath the hollow’s slowly disintegrating body, and kicked it up and off.

While also knocking _himself_ off the roof.

“Uh-oh.”


	21. Chapter 21

Ichigo managed to reach out and catch the fool by his leg, “You stupid-!”

He hauled his body back up, then swiped his free hand not holding onto Jumping Jack, agitatedly through his hair, “Why would you do what you just did?! Once you’ve split a hollow’s head, he’s finished! You didn’t have to kick it! It’s like you didn’t want it to fall _there_-” – eyes drifting next to where he’d put Jumping Jack down, voice quieting – “Ants? I can’t believe this. You didn’t want it to smash the _ants_.”

(He remembered taking a solid hit across the back once for a baby boar, not wanting it to be killed like this. He’d taken it home, given her a little ribbon-

_Bonny_.)

Jumping Jack glared defiantly up at him, daring him to say something “That’s right! So? I . . I can’t kill anything!”

(Was this what he looked like when he did this? He _knew_ that furrow, that glare, and it was very _fight me_.)

He took his silence and hastened to explain himself in it, like he expected him to turn his blade on him and he wanted to say his piece before that, “I was created, then Soul Society ordered the destruction of all Mods. The day after I born, the day of my death was set!” – staring down at his clenched, shaking fists and not seeing how Ichigo’s eyes had widened and were now narrowing dangerously – “So I sweated in that pill, just waiting to die. Day after day, my brothers and sisters were killed. Then I got lucky and got shipped out with a load of goods by mistake. Still, I always expected to be discovered and destroyed. I had a lot of time to think about things. I decided that no one had the right to take a life.” He looked up with determined, pleading eyes, “I exist! I should have the right to live and die freely!”

Ichigo met them evenly, already turning his resolve into how Soul Society would have to _fight him_ if they wanted to get at Jumping Jack. _No one_ should live every day thinking they’d be hunted down any moment and be destroyed.

“Like humans, or even bugs, a Mod should have that right. So, I refuse to kill.”

He let go of Jumping Jack, even offered a hand up that was taken after a moment of hesitation, “You shouldn’t have-”

“Well, look here.” They both turned to look, to see a blond man step right up to them, unnoticed until the very last second, and only because he’d spoken, “We finally find you, and you’re already incapacitated.”

(And didn’t he look _familiar?_)

From the shadow of a striped hat, he looked down on Jumping Jack, “What a waste. We lugged all this stuff for nothing.”

Jumping Jack flinched and Ichigo was already moving, not caring to think about how if this guy was a normal human – nor how he _knew_ that wasn’t true – he could kill him, _no one_ made someone feel like how his face had twisted.

(Like he had after his mother had died, and he _knew_ it had been his fault, somehow, in what he’d done, what he’d not done.

Like he wasn’t worth what it taken to get him to his point. Like he wasn’t worth _anything_.

Tatsuki had beaten it out of his head then, and it was time to return the favor.)

It took the man by surprise when he brushed aside his lifted cane, pulling it to the side and twisted one leg behind one of the man’s and _pushed_.

Not enough to pull it out of his hand; enough to pull a sword from a sheath.

Not enough to knock him down; enough to make him stumble.

His eyes were narrowed as he clenched the wooden sword sheath/half of a cane in his hand, never letting that wicked sharp blade out of his sight, before shoving one finger in the man’s face, “Fuck off! You have no business here.”

The man blinked, sword-cane drooping.

(There was laughter in his head at the idea that he’d surprised _him_.)

“But I do?”

Ichigo just bull-dozed past him, lifting Jumping Jack’s arm to show the ink Tatsuki had drawn on him, “Nope. We have no business with a greedy merchant trying to claim non-existent goods back.” – then pointing a finger at the little bit of blood on his forehead – “We actually need to be seeing Goat Face, my brother here seems to be having a few memory problems.”

Everyone, including the recently arrived Rukia who’d pushed past a much bigger man and two kids to put herself between them and the other four, just stared at him for a moment at his blatant lie, at his body’s arm. Ichigo didn’t even try to hide how he stepped on Jumping Jack’s foot, “Ow! O-_oh!_ Yeah, who are you?”

“A greedy merchant.” Rukia spoke up, and the blond looked down at her, “Kuchiki-san~ You must understand-”

“Why, Urahara? You guys are operating outside the law, anyway. It’s not _your_ job to recall him. And I don’t need a refund, I’m satisfied with my purchase of a _gikongan_. Or is it your policy to confiscate goods your customers have already paid for?”

He abruptly looked serious, “Do you really understand? I won’t take the fall for you.”

She turned away, patting a hand on the shoulder of Jumping Jack who was wide-eyed and watching this whole thing like someone watching a tennis match that would decide his fate, “I do. Trouble is where I’m living already.”

Then she was pulling him along, with Ichigo close on their heels and throwing the blond man wary side-eyes as they left.

Jumping Jack’s voice was quiet as they got to street level without the four following, “Thanks . . for saving me.”

She gave them a small smile, “It was the right thing to do.”


	22. Kisuke Interlude

Kisuke watched Ichigo leave with the Mod Soul without moving, even as Jinta pouted behind him, “Ah, I was looking forward to a fight! I bet we could take him, Ururu! He doesn’t look like much!”

He knew Ichigo had been remembering, but to draw that tattoo on that arm in that spot was new.

Even Kaien probably wouldn’t have tried to lay him out flat though; _that_ was all _Ichigo_.

Pulling out his fan and fluttering it in front of his face, he tracked the three’s reiatsu – and wasn’t it curious that the Mod Soul’s was changing, growing, just from being in vicinity of Ichigo. It had already had developed a little of its own, that was how he’d known that Rukia’s gikongan was gone with its absence, but it had still been rather _bland_. It had felt a little bit like an echo of a shinigami who didn’t know their zanpaku-tō, who knew _nothing_ about their blade, and _now_, now there was an echo of what Ichigo might have been if not for Kaien starting to peek through.

A _flicker-flame_, a _moonlight_, a little _water_.

Most curiously, he was starting to adapt to _Shiba_ reiatsu, with just an echo of Ichigo. _Evolving_.

(What was that human story, about wishing on a star and a puppet wanting to be a real boy?)

Like the lie Ichigo had given was making itself true beneath the force of his will and the Mod Soul’s desire to _live_.

(If he didn’t know better, he’d believe that he was witnessing the hand of the Soul King interfering.

The Soul King hadn’t stepped in, in _centuries_, maybe _millennia_.)

Kisuke turned away with a small sigh, “Only that boy.” – then grinned behind his fan – “Tessai~ Celebrations are in order! Do we still have those ‘It’s a boy!’ banners from Masaki-chan’s baby shower? I believe we need to bring them to Isshin to deliver the good news!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #Urahara is a Little Shit and a Troll


	23. Chapter 23

Ichigo was back in his body, carrying the Mod Soul in his front shirt pocket as he debated with him about what he should make for a make-shift body when they weren’t going to be sharing his, staying away from the topic of a name for now.

Karin abruptly threw open his door, but she didn’t come into the room.

She didn’t blink at how he appeared to be talking to himself even if there didn’t appear to be any ghosts around that she could see, and just pointed a finger at him, “_You_ . . ! What did you _do_ today?! Yuzu saw you making impossible jumps, and _it was caught on camera_. You’re lucky it was blurry, but the hair was undeniable!! They’re calling you the Flying Boy of Karakura!”

Then she made an about-face, slamming the door behind her.

“Karin-?” “NOT NOW GOAT FACE! I’D LIKE TO PRETEND WE’RE A NORMAL FAMILY AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT TODAY!”

Rukia poked her head out of the closet where she’d hastily thrown herself before Karin could see her, “Is she okay?”

“Mostly. Between the talking cat, what happened today, and Goat Face’s normal behavior, she’s probably a bit overwhelmed by the _weird_ in this family.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “What talking cat . . ?”

Ichigo was saved from answering that when the doorbell rang, pettily getting pay-back for her below-the-belt punch as Yuzu called for him, “Ichigo! Will you come here for a moment?”

“Be right there!”

“Wait! Ichigo! What talking cat?!”

Said cat sauntered into his room like he owned the place as _he_ walked down the stairs to where Yuzu was beaming, “Ichigo! It was my turn to host the sewing circle today, but the other ladies have the flu, so the only one who could make it today is Ishida-kun.” – gesturing over to a face he _had_ seen before, but he’d never much interacted with considering how _completely_ studious the other boy was, and how when he wasn’t working on homework, he always seemed to be doing some sort of handcraft in the classroom while he went to the roof – “Ishida-kun is a classmate of yours, right?”

He nodded as the dark-haired boy pushed up his classes and making them glint, “Indeed, Kurosaki-san. Kurosaki is somehow always tying with me for near the top of the class despite his delinquent manner.”

His eye twitched, “_Somehow_? Then how come you aren’t top of the class, Four Eyes, if you’re so much better?”

The glasses gleamed for a moment, “So you do admit you _are_ a delinquent?”

Yuzu smiled, and it sent ice down his spine, making him immediately shut up, “Ichi-nii, Ishida-kun,” – even if Ishida seemed slower on the uptake as he’d opened his mouth to protest before she’d turned that _smile_ on him solely – “No fighting.”

Then she’d turned around with a little hum, like she hadn’t put a fear in them, “I was just finishing off dinner, Ishida-kun. Would you help Ichi-nii set the table and you can join us. Tonight’s stir fry.”

Ishida tried to politely demure, but Ichigo didn’t let him, kicking him in the shins before dragging him towards the table, “That sounds wonderful Yuzu!”

He got pinched right above the elbow for his trouble, “Don’t manhandle me Kurosaki!”

Pausing for a moment to make sure Yuzu was still humming, he pinched back, hissing, “Shh! If you make Yuzu upset, it’ll be the Dinner Debacle Part Three, and _I’ll_ have to be her guinea pig for all of her new recipes and eat thirty different versions of the same thing. I still can’t eat peanut butter cookies after Dinner Debacle Part One four years ago. I’ll _make_ _sure_ you’re _right_ _there_ _with_ _me_ if you do!”

Ishida pinched the inside of his wrist before turning away, voice notably quieter, “Then help me set the table, Kurosaki!”

His eyes narrowed, reaching out to pinch just under the arm, “_You . . !_”

“Is everything alright, Ichi-nii? Ishida-kun?” – pots and pans rattling around as she managed four different things considering Goat Face was on a meat-less diet until his cholesterol came down some – “After dinner, we can work on that crochet hat, that good with you, Ishida-kun?”

“We’re almost done, Yuzu!” “That’s fine, Kurosaki-chan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #Current Kurosaki Household Occupancy: 7 (and a half)

**Author's Note:**

> Next is the Grand Fisher Arc!!


End file.
